Nothing pre-historic about this filmmaking. It's modern thrills from 65 million years ago.
Jurassic World
Grade: B
Director: Colin Trevorrow (Safety Not Guaranteed)
Screenplay: Rick Jaffa (Dawn of Planet of the Apes), et al.
Cast: Chris Pratt (Guardians of the Galaxy), Bryce Dallas Howard (The Help)
Rating: PG-13
Runtime: 124 min.
by John DeSando
“Something is wrong. They're communicating.” Barry (Omar Sy)
In any other context, communication is the cornerstone of prosperity and progress, for humans anyway. But when the dinosaurs in Jurassic World are accused of communicating, it is a formula for mayhem. Control is the operative metaphor in that world, and as we’re reminded more than once, complete control doesn’t exist, most of all when you’re playing in Mother Nature’s backyard.
And so another summer comes with blockbusters pandering to our primal fears of death, for surely this fourth iteration of Jurassic Park (22 years—a millennium of evolution in Hollywood terms) is a child of the others, about survival for humans and animals. The real enemy is not even our brutal inclinations but rather the corporate expansionism that promotes aggression leading to mayhem. As scientist Dr. Henry Wu (BD Wong), who has lost his humanity, says to a corporate financier (Irrfan Khan), “You wanted scarier.” The actual word in his memo,we are reminded, was “cooler.”
Claire (Bryce Dallas Howard) says, “Every time we unveiled a new attraction, attendance has spiked.” Ain’t that the truth for these summer scare-a-thons as well? Claire, a career park manager, in her perpetual high heels and self-absorbed ambition embodies the dangers of insensitivity driven by selfishness.
Jurassic World makes fun of itself promoting even more exotic summer fare that begins with creating a fiercer tyrannosaurus to meet the excessive expectations of a growingly literate summer audience. “Bigger, louder, more teeth” is the corporate mandate.
Even with the multiple incidences of obvious green-screen shots and hokey setups, Jurassic World remains steadfastly respectful of Steven Spielberg’s—he’s exec producer here—plan since Jaws: Let the monster bond the families, who together face the ultimate fate and are better for the scare. The attack of the pterodactyls on the visitors reminds us how much Spielberg adores movies like Hitchcock’s Birds.
The less we see of the creatures, the more suspense we get. While we see more of raptors and rexes than Spielberg’s minimalism allowed decades ago, director Colin Trevorrow keeps the emphasis on the evolution of the familial and social bonding rather than raw rapaciousness.
“I can't wait to tell my mom about this!” Gray (Ty Simpkins). The boy’s exclamation at seeing an enhanced T-Rex pretty much sums up my feelings about this garden variety summer blockbuster. Regardless how many CGI monsters we see, bringing back Steven Spielberg’s nightmares, be they Jaws or Jurassic, appeals to the wonder of kids and the kid buried in our jaded adult hearts. Survival is still the name of the ancient game.
“What do you want?” Claire asks donors-to-be. To the response, “We want to be thrilled,” she says, “Don’t we all.” We get it delightfully in Jurassic World, summer, 2015, a long 65 million years after the dinos but alive on our screens.
John DeSando, a Los Angeles Press Club first-place winner for National Entertainment Journalism, hosts WCBE’s It’s Movie Time and co-hosts Cinema Classics. Contact him at JDeSando@Columbus.rr.com
